The multi-modal project, fueled by growing pedestrian traffic between the University of Colorado's main and east campuses and an aging overpass that's nearing the end of its service life, is slated for construction in 2019, officials said at a community meeting held Monday outlining several options for the project. Many of the school's community live and work in the area of that intersection.

The underpass has a projected $8 million price tag.

Recognizing the growing CU campus to the intersection's east, expanded university housing to the south and plans for transit-oriented development at Boulder Junction to the north, the study has become more salient as of late, officials said.

The city's 30th and Colorado Corridor Study also allocates for a Foothills Parkway bicycle and pedestrian underpass, just south of Colorado Avenue.

The areas separated by Foothills Parkway are connected by a quickly crumbling, 40-year-old overpass, according to Brian Wiltshire, a project manager with Boulder's Public Works Department, who said it needs to be revamped soon if it's going to hold up to the growth slated for the region.

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"(The overpass) right now is kind of structurally deficient," he said. "Continued maintenance and the cost is just increasing over time."

It's difficult to judge what costs over, say, the next 10 years would look like to maintain the current overpass. However, Wiltshire says recent, smaller repairs may offer some insight.

"About two years ago, that particular project was very limited in scope, but to top that deck was in the range of $150,000 — just to re-top that deck," he said. "If you look on the bottom side, you can see a lot of cracking. Structurally, it has a lot of integrity issues.

"Structures have a life span. Once you get to the end of that life span, they start to deteriorate rapidly."

Design firms have made bids for the underpass project, and the city is expected to pick a consultant soon. Officials hope construction wraps in time for a 2020 opening.

For the city's many cyclists, the respite from traffic can't come soon enough.

"I travel from main campus to east campus a lot," CU grad student Simon Pendleton said Monday. "The intersection is tricky for a lot of reasons; mostly because it's an intersection of pedestrians and buses and cars and bikes all at the same time.

"I get it; we're small and fast and hard to see," he said of the difficult coexistence between drivers and cyclists, "but it's nice to see the city take initiative and look at ways to crowd source the solution."

In total, these six projects carry a price tag of about $25 million, though some of that money will benefit projects related to the underpasses.

"They're definitely a preferred means of crossing," Wiltshire said. "You've got the older style, which was the overpass — you have to have the elevator to connect them, lots of ramps and bridges to connect them, but they're very costly.

"(Underpasses) make it very nice for all users," he added. "I wouldn't say they're the answer to everything, but for a lot of these situations where you're trying to connect 'A-and-B' and going under major roadways, they make a lot of sense."

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